Thai Cabinet Allocates Bt10M To Fight Cambodia On Preah Vihear

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Bt10m put aside to fight Cambodia on Preah Vihear

By The Nation

The Cabinet yesterday allocated Bt10 million for the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to use in the campaign against Cambodia's management plan on Preah Vihear's, which it will present at the World Heritage committee meeting in Brazil later this month.

The Hindu temple near the Thai-Cambodian border was listed in July 2008 as a World Heritage Site, but Thailand has been lobbying member countries to delay Phnom Penh's management plan owing to disputes in areas adjacent to the temple.

The Thai authorities want Cambodia's management plan to be delayed until the border dispute is settled, the government's deputy spokesman Marut Masayawanit said.

The Bt10 million will be spent by a delegation representing Thailand at the meeting, which runs from July 25 to August 3, he said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti would lead the delegation and present Thailand's stance to the Unesco World Heritage committee.

"We want to delay the plan because we are still in a border dispute with Cambodia and we have not seen any documents for the management plan," Abhisit told reporters.

Thailand is concerned that Cambodia might use the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre area near the temple as a buffer zone for the site.

Abhisit added that the committee's decision would not affect Thailand's boundary with Cambodia, but it was advisable that no decisions were made while the disputes remained.

According to a 1962 verdict from the International Court of Justice, the Preah Vihear temple is located in Cambodia, but Thailand claims that areas adjacent to the temple belong to Thailand. The two countries are still in the process of negotiation for boundary demarcation.

-- The Nation 2010-07-14

[beano2274]

BT10m could be spent better.

No need to spend so much, just try to come to an agreement with Cambodia. Divide the Land and let equal access from both sides of the border to both countries, make it a kind of No Mans Land.

[rkidlad]

BT10m could be spent better.

No need to spend so much, just try to come to an agreement with Cambodia. Divide the Land and let equal access from both sides of the border to both countries, make it a kind of No Mans Land.

It's a small price to retain this high-level of nationalism and neglect the locals who really need it. Now there's a paradox.

[dumball]

I am in agreance with sharing this small plot of land so both peoples can benifit , the local inhabitants have been happy to work this way for a long time , both Thai and Khmer . This whole fiasco that Thai keep bringing up ,has no real bearing on a practically useless piece of land , other than the original and easy assess to the temple , it would appear that this whole demarcation problem has only to do with the recent dicovery of oil and gas in the Adaman sea , it could change the fortunes to be amassed , and greed is once again taking over from clear thinking for a peacefull settlement .

[matsellah]

How does Cambodia influence events in the Andaman Sea?

[Rucharee]

Home may M16 & GT200 can you buy with 10 million Baht?

It is about time to call the Chinese middleman.

[ianf]

I am in agreance with sharing this small plot of land so both peoples can benifit , the local inhabitants have been happy to work this way for a long time , both Thai and Khmer . This whole fiasco that Thai keep bringing up ,has no real bearing on a practically useless piece of land , other than the original and easy assess to the temple , it would appear that this whole demarcation problem has only to do with the recent dicovery of oil and gas in the Adaman sea , it could change the fortunes to be amassed , and greed is once again taking over from clear thinking for a peacefull settlement .

agreance? I agree with

benefit

access

peaceful

[kuffki]

Sooooo this money is for military or legal fees?

[Greenside]

My wife just told me that the government are debating a sales tax rise to 10% and they're talking about wasting money on this? I N S A N E.

[animatic]

In a word:

Ridiculous!

[eggomaniac]

How does Cambodia influence events in the Andaman Sea?

Cambodia has an impending claim on Ko Chang, which would increase their territorial waters greatly. Just look at a map of the long sliver of coast line jutting into Cambodia that Thailand owns.

What could save Ko Chang, for Thailand, would be recognition of the deeds were given to Thais for land ownership. The last I heard, the Thai navy and Parks were heck bent on dismissing those local claims.

Without 'ownership' privately by Thais, the International Court could view the Geography and history in favor of Cambodia. [all you have to do is look at the map Attached red x's]

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As for Preah Vihear, if that one goes to International Court, where they use the high altitude points, water sheds, for determining borders, Thailand could lose a lot more on this one.

dge should NOT be the demarcation point, it is the high elevation line 6 to 10 kms back from the cliff.

The Thais should be glad to keep the land around the site that can be used for Tourist facilities and LET Cambodia maintain the old shrines.

There are high level Thai military who know of this and were very annoyed when the agreement of 2008 was rescinded, because they know how much Thailand could lose.

http://en.wikipedia....h_Vihear_Temple

Preah Vihear as a World Heritage SiteOn July 8, 2008, the World Heritage Committee decided to add Prasat Preah Vihear, along with 26 other sites, to the World Heritage Site list, despite several protests from Thailand.

As the process of Heritage-listing began, Cambodia announced its intention to apply for World Heritage inscription by UNESCO. Thailand protested that it should be a joint-effort and UNESCO deferred debate at its 2007 meeting.

Following this both Cambodia and Thailand were in full agreement that Preah Vihear Temple had "Outstanding Universal Value" and should be inscribed on the World Heritage List as soon as possible. The two nations agreed that Cambodia should propose the site for formal inscription on the World Heritage List at the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee in 2008 with the active support of Thailand. This led to a redrawing of the map of the area for proposed inscription, removing the 4.2sq kilometres of border territory awarded to Cambodia but still occupied by Thailand and leaving only the temple and its immediate environs.

BINGO FOR THAILAND! BUT

ailand's political opposition launched an attack on this revised plan (see New dispute over ownership), claiming the inclusion of Preah Vihear could "consume" the overlapping area of the dispute lands. In response to the political pressure at home, Thailand withdrew its formal support for the listing of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage site.

Cambodia continued with the application for World Heritage status and, despite official Thai protests, on July 7, 2008 (July 8 in Cambodia), Preah Vihear Temple was inscribed on the list of World Heritage sites.

The renewed national boundary dispute of 2008 has been a reminder that despite the World Heritage ideals of conservation for all humanity, operating a World Heritage site often requires use of national authority at odds with the local cultures and natural diversity of the landscape. Prior to listing, Cambodia considered Preah Vihear part of a Protected Landscape (IUCN category V) defined as "Nationally significant natural and semi-natural landscapes that must be maintained to provide opportunities for recreation." However, Category V is generally defined as "Land, with coast and seas as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, cultural and/or ecological value, and often with high biological diversity. Safeguarding the integrity of this traditional interaction is vital to the protection, maintenance and evolution of such an area."

Around 1994, Thailand held a World Heritage proposal conference in Srisaket in which the local cultural traditions were considered along with monuments like Preah Vihear that stimulate more nationalistic sentiments. Reportedly the use of passes in the Dongrak Mountains tied together cultural communities and practices divided by a militarized (and imperfectly demarcated) modern border line. A Mon-Khmer ethnic minority, the Kui or Suay (the ethnonyms have multiple spellings), used the passes to hunt and capture elephants in the forests below the Dongrak cliff edge, including the Kulen area now a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary. Kui in Cambodia were skilled ironsmiths using ore from Phnom Dek.^[12]

While elephant hunting in the vicinity of Preah Vihear was touched upon in the International Court of Justice proceedings, the World Heritage plans overlook local culture and species protection to facilitate national revenues from tourism. One international law professor has urged that practicality calls for laying aside exclusive sovereignty in favor of an "international peace park."^[13] A scholarly article concurs in concluding: "since Thailand and Cambodia have brought only blood and bitterness to this place, it might be desirable to preserve it from both. It could be given back to nature and the indigenous peoples, to be managed cooperatively between the two governments in equal partnership with local communities, as a transborder Protected Landscape-Anthropological Reserve (IUCN category V and old category VII)."^[14] Given the massing troops in 2008, perhaps such a transborder reserve would create not only a demilitarized buffer zone in which any future demarcation can be amicably undertaken, but a recognition of the added ecological and cultural aspects of an area which both Cambodia and Thailand may still save from the destructive and exploitative impacts of rapid development so often suffered in other ASEAN countries.

[edit] New dispute over ownership

Main article: 2008 Cambodian-Thai stand-offThe 2008 stand-off between Thailand and Cambodia began in June as the latest round of a century-long dispute involving the area surrounding Preah Vihear Temple between the Kantharalak district (amphoe) in the Sisaket province of eastern Thailand and the Choam Khsant district in the Preah Vihear province of northern Cambodia. Thailand claims that demarcation has not yet been completed.^[15] The dispute widened in 2008 to include the Ta Moan Thom complex 153 km to the west, near the border between the Thai Surin province and the Cambodian Oddar Meancheay province. Though some sources suggest otherwise, the Sdok Kok Thom Temple in Thailand's Aranyaprathet District is unlikely to become a source of dispute, as it is 1.6 km inside Thailand at a well-demarcated, undisputed section of the boundary in a heavily settled area, unlike Preah Vihear and Ta Moan Thom. ^[16]

The ongoing conflict between Cambodia and Thailand over the site has led to outbreaks of violence. In April of 2009, 66 stones at the temple were damaged by shooting from Thai soldiers across the border.^[17] This shooting came after another violent outburst in October of 2008. In February 2010, the Cambodian government filed a formal letter of complaint with Google Maps for inaccurately representing the border established by the International Court of Justice in 1962.^[18]

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Oh, guess how badly the Cambodians, as well as the Southern Separtists are praying the situation in Thailand gets???????

Edited July 15, 2010 by eggomaniac

[jackr]

How does Cambodia influence events in the Andaman Sea?

Think he means the Gulf.

[LomSak27]

Once you dig a hole, seems you have to keep on digging.

[dumball]

Thank you egomaniac for your fact filled explanation of my very small post , is is good to see that some posters are aware that this Preah Vehear problem could have been solved a long time ago without unneccessary bloodshed and sabre rattling , making the disputed small piece of land a no mans area , would solve so many arguments and allow the local residents , both Thai and Khymer , to live in peace once again , also benifitting both countries in the long run , easy assess to the temple with a corresponding increase in tourism to the temple .

[matsellah]

How does Cambodia influence events in the Andaman Sea?

Think he means the Gulf.

Whew! Thanks. I thought I was losing my marbles.

This isn't the Andaman Sea, folks.